


A Criminal's Guide to Interludes

by SPARKXII



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: A Criminal's Guideverse, Gen, Short Stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24135790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SPARKXII/pseuds/SPARKXII
Summary: Between the adventure of the famous Region-Hopping criminals, one has to wonder what goes on in the world outside of it! These small stories provide little snippets into the lives of everyone BUT our infamous criminal friends, featuring gym leaders, frontier brains and passerby.Written for my good friend AnonAlpaca, Thank you for making such a wonderful series!Current Chapter: The morning of chapter 26 arrives, and Darach finds himself in a strange scenario... Who is making all that racket?
Relationships: Relationships to be added
Kudos: 4





	1. Oreburghin' It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnonAlpaca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonAlpaca/gifts).



> Once again thank you to the wonderful Alpa for previewing these and validating them. I hope you'll enjoy!

On the morning after the group of said criminals tore through Oreburgh streets like a pair of grass types on fire, the sky was blanketed by soft cumulus clouds, making it look like a giant white blanket nestled itself above the skyline of wrought iron buildings.

Aside from being the city's gym leader, Roark was a dedicated miner, living only a short distance from the City's mining plant. Living in a small first floor home, a feat of the older architecture Oreburgh city seldomly kept, he was easily a 20-minute walk away from the dig site.  
A cranidos wagged its tail impatiently as the young gym leader laced up his mining boots, kneeled by the front door as the TV in the living room behind them played the melody of the morning news channel. 

"We'll go in a second, okay? Just let me get my coat," Roark finished up the last of the knots on a pair of sleek black work boots and stood up to grab his raincoat, the forecast right before called for at least a 70% chance of rain. 

"And now, for our top story. Citizens of South Sinnoh are advised to stay clear of highways and to stay indoors today as wind of the 'Region-Hopping Hoenn Criminals' have finally reached home." 

Roark paused for a moment, halfway through sliding his arm through the left sleeve of his coat, despite the impatient whine from his cranidos, and craned his neck so he could see the TV better from his spot by the door. 

"As words from Officer Chaser from International Defenses state: 'Citizens are advised to steer clear of any shady vans and to report any suspicious activity to their local officials. They are armed with pokemon and highly dangerous." 

Roark frowned, and purposefully took his time with sliding his right arm into the right sleeve to catch the story, though he couldn't mask the anxiety he felt beginning to bubble. 

"Sketches of these criminals have been perfected thanks to footage gathered by the Sinnoh Frontier Brain Association," 

On the screen showed six sketches. Roark studied them carefully, even the cranidos quieted as if it could understand the tense situation.  
At the top, two portraits had been drawn to fit the former Magma and Aqua leaders; the right one was a man with sharp angles and hair that cut off just above his shoulders, sporting Galarian features to the likes of thin lips and a surprisingly button-cute nose, with a set of glasses that looked far from practical.  
The man on the left was sketched with the dark skin of Southeastern Hoennian Islander status and curly black hair, with a scar that stretched on the bridge of his nose past his eyes. He had a stronger jawline and shoulders that dwarfed the Magma leaders', Roark lamented how much he wouldn't want to see these guys in a dark alleyway, but shook the thought away as the next set of sketches flashed on the screen. 

The cranidos began to pull on his pant leg and whined again, as he finally zipped up his coat,  
"Alright, alright! We're gonna go now, I promise," He patted the rock type pokemon on its smooth rock-like head and slipped his keys into his pocket, turning the doorknob and headed out into the cold morning air. 

~~~

Everyone was seemingly taking the advice from the morning broadcast to heart, as Roark noted he'd never seen the Oreburgh streets this empty this early in the morning.  
The news had to be exaggerating, right? There's no way these guys are actually in South Sinnoh. The police would have booked them by now.  
He passed by the few other older-styled houses of miners and equipment workers that lived fairly close to the mine as well as his pokemon trailed behind him, happily unaware of the situation. The road turned to the unpaved gravel and soot of the entrance to the mine, and as much as Roark wanted to pretend it didn't exist, tire tracks made themselves visible, and they weren't the type made by the miners' machines.  
The fence. Somebody left the fence open. Who was in charge of locking up last night?!  
Anxiety ebbed at the gym leader for the second time that morning, as he didn't bother punching in his usual code to open the door.  
Roark looked around tentatively, large buildings with dome roofs that held equipment or the steam-belching coal cleaning plant, Roark realized he was doing as the news said-- Staying hyper alert. 

"Crani, watch out," He took his time walking in the direction of the southern entrance, surveying the tire tracks that looked like somebody was weaving in and out of buildings and equipment. Like somebody had been swerving… 

Up ahead towards the South Entrance, two others had already gathered by the final building by the entrance. Roark recognized them as Head of Machinery, Crust, and one of the Mining chiefs, Dudley. 

"Yeah, looks like someone nicked it pretty good here. The vehicle must've gained substantial damage, look at these marks," Crust, an individual with graying hair tied up into a ponytail slung over their left shoulder, traced their finger over diagonal slashes cut into the wrought iron side of the building, "I hope we can get someone out today to patch this up." 

"I don't remember seeing anything like this last night," Dudley, the taller and visibly bulkier of the two already in his mining coat shook his head dismissively, "This must've been after I went home for the night and left locking up to one of the seniors." 

Roark approached them, "Good morning," He chimed in awkwardly, "What's going on here?" 

"Oh, good morning Roark," Dudley's frown turned to a small smile, and the small lines serving as the man's eyebrows raised, "We're just- uh, inspecting damage. Apparently some looney drove through here like it was a free-for-all last night and crashed into the left of the machinery hold. Hey, you didn't happen to see anything, did you?" 

Crust studied the damage done to the side of the building. Metal-on-metal, iron worn away in spots where the building warped due to impact. 

"Sorry to the both of you, but I didn't see anything suspicious happen last night. When my shift ended, there were only about four others left working in the mines. I didn't see anyone else come in or out." 

Crust studied the swerve marks made in the gravel pathway leading up to the South Entrance, and spotted strange item glittering in the cloudy morning light. It looked… block-like? Like a hunk of metal with a reflective property stuck onto it. 

"Hey, boss. Check this out," Dudley and Roark turned their heads in the direction of the strange object resting in the gravel. 

All three approached it as Crust knelt down to pick it up. The strange, cracked exterior, it looked like a car's front viewing mirror.

"Well, what do we have here?" Crust handed the mirror to Dudley, who turned it over in his hands and began to scowl without realizing it, "Looks like the culprits missed a piece of their getaway vehicle." 

Roark suddenly felt incredibly small, and for once, it was not due to the fact that the two others were well over six feet. Worry hit him at full force and he began to tap his foot, grimacing. The only thing he could think of was the news report. 

They are thought to be highly dangerous. Please report any suspicious activity to your local officials.

"Whaddya think we should do with it?" Crust asked. 

"Well-" 

"We should get the police over here!" Roark blurted, then tried to swallow his words as the two others stared at him. 

"The boys got a point," Crust crossed their arms, "Say, you don't think it was related to that news report, right? The one about the van-riding Hoenn Criminals?" 

"What do I know about Hoennians? -Besides that they obviously don't know how to drive," Dudley smirked, "Roark, you've probably just done a lot of good for the local police station. Crust, get the locals on the line." 

Crust pulled out their radio clipped to a loop in their belt and radioed in the Machinery Holds desk. Roark shuffled in place, eyeing the mirror like it was an Aipom's Paw, an omen of bad luck. 

Oh, Arceus- Roark thought to himself- What have I got myself into?


	2. Solaceon & the Battle Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the sleepy town of Solaceon, a certain duo of Frontier Brains pass by for a night in on their training journey. A quiet night in at a Sinnoh lodge, what could be better? Stay tuned As The Journey Continues!

Solaceon & the Battle Princess

Solaceon was a sleepy town just a ways north of Hearthome City, with a total of four subdivisions, two shopping centers, a park and the well-known cabin-styled hotel, Solaceon Lodge. It was a town where things never got too interesting, it always kept a calm and familiar air about it, and even was voted ‘best town to raise a family’ a few times. Besides that, on a day where the forecast was calling for a snow warning, not even snow could stop the plight of a certain Psychic trainer.

Bundled up in a blush colored parka flanked by bags of gear and spare supplies, Caitlin sat in the back of her family’s limousinette, a sleek scaled-down version of a limousine outlined with the Battle Frontier’s insignia on the two back doors. It was still the common matte black, but had less length to it and easier for traveling in. The regular limousine, Caitlin decided, was too much of a hassle to take on the journey she was embarking on. A pokemon rested in her lap, a smiling little orb encased in a green outer shell of mucus, it was none other than a Solosis. It hovered above her as she slid an upturned gloved hand under it and cooed as the car turned off the exit towards Solaceon. 

The late afternoon sun was beginning to stretch towards the upcoming clouds on the horizon, bringing chill in its wake. Even in the springtime, Sinnoh would only reach highs of high 50s and low 60s. 

"Are you sure this is the right exit, Gallade?" Darach was the one behind the wheel, accompanied by his gallade who took the passenger's seat with Caitlin sitting in the spacious backseat on a cushioned couch that lined the area. 

"Gal," The gallade nodded and held up the map for Darach to see, "Gal-lade!" 

"If you say so," The Frontier Brain flicked on the turn signal and maneuvered the car to turn on one of the main roads leading downtown, "We're only going to stay a night here anyways, we had plans to be in Hearthome by tomorrow afternoon." 

Caitlin watched as a fresh bank of snow cloud lazily crawled over the horizon, the Solosis in her lap even interested in the sidewalk and people that sped by.   
To her, she thought her training was going well. She and Darach had taken a break from the Frontier to work on her skills alone after a certain two trainers caught her eye and made her long to battle; they drifted from town to town challenging smaller battle shops and cafes, and some occasional sightseeing as well. 

Caitlin turned her head towards the front seat as she felt the car slowly pull into a semi-empty parking lot of a large two story log cabin-styled building with the words 'Solaceon Lodge' in neon lights hanging above the twin doors. 

"Well," Darach eased the key from the startup and turned to Gallade, "We're here. I do hope they accept walk-ins. You never know with these places." 

The Solosis hovering in her lap cried happily and floated towards Darach and his Gallade, Caitlin watching it with tired eyes. 

"Gallade, you stay here and watch over Lady Caitlin. I'll come back to help you with the bags when I've gotten us a room, is that clear?" Darach buttoned up his trenchcoat and flipped open his pocket watch, it was nearly four in the afternoon. 

"Gal! The Gallade saluted, putting an arm across its chest and bowed as Darach fixed his scarf and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it down ever so slightly. 

The Valet opened the door and was hit with a blast of cold afternoon air, hurrying into the lodge as he shoved his hands into his pockets, having forgotten his gloves in one of the many bags in the back of the limousinette. He swung open one of the twin doors and the bell above jingled, sounding his arrival and the dark haired woman at the receptionist desk tapped something on a cellphone before slipping it away.

"Hello-" She paused to get a good look at the new customer, "Battle Frontier Brain?!" Was all that she could spit out. 

Having seen this many times before, the Valet simply nodded,   
"Yes, I'm afraid that's me," He dug into one of the trench coats' pockets and fished out his wallet, flashing the woman his official Battle Frontier ID card, "And I was wondering if you have any rooms available." 

Darach was quite used to using his status as Frontier Brain to cut ahead in lines, get meals on the house and even get choice seating and such, but even he wasn't sure if the 'Frontier Discount' would work at something like a hotel. The woman sitting at the desk flipped a dark curl back behind her shoulder and tap-tap-tapped away on a computer, nodding her head and clearing her throat before she spoke, 

"Of course, and for how many?" 

The Valet contemplated asking for a room with two beds so he wouldn't have to spend another night on a fold-out couch, but he piped up,   
"Erm, if it's possible, a two-person room, please. If not, a singular is fine." 

"We have a couple of two bed rooms left on the second floor, do you have a particular spot you'd like to be close by?" 

Another question. He hoped Caitlin was doing alright being by herself in the car, but willed himself to sit through twenty questions to please a Frontier Brain.

~~~

Back in the limousinette, Caitlin kicked her feet restlessly and stared out the window towards the lodge door, hoping Darach would come back sometime soon and escort her out. The Gallade in the passenger's seat began to drift forward ever so slightly, its eyes almost closing like it was dozing off. 

The Solosis itself seemed restless, it floated around the backseat bumping into bags of extra clothing or battle supplies and rolled around in midair like a ball.  
Caitlin picked at one of the flashing lights on her Silencer gloves, an accessory that Psychic trainers often kept with them to regulate power and the amount of energy given off, and her Solosis stopped hovering and laid itself down on the floor, still smiling, like a very pleased puddle of jello. The Gallade in the passenger seat made a small snore and for a second, Caitlin contemplated getting out of the car and wandering around, but was struck with something even better.   
She swiftly scooped her Solosis from the floor and wrapped it inside of her parka, bundling both her arms across her chest and using her psykinesis to slowly open the car door, trying to not disturb the sleeping Gallade and stepped out into the cold afternoon air. 

~~

Back inside, Darach had answered just about the last question the receptionist threw at him, and finally was able to put his name and card into the system for the room. The door jingled behind him, but he didn't turn to see who it was. 

Caitlin slipped inside unattended, and even the receptionist missed her entry as she was too preoccupied with putting their names into the system. As quietly as she slipped out of the car, she slipped into a seat in the waiting room, smiling to herself. Solosis, hidden in her parka, chirped happily, but she quickly hushed it. 

Though, the one drawback with using her powers was that once she used them, her Silencer gloves would begin to take in excess energy. Energy she would usually use to keep her powers at bay would be taken by the gloves and stored in its power reserves, making drowsiness set it quicker than the snowstorm in the forecast.   
She felt the tiredness setting in behind her eyelids, but she tightened her grasp on her parka and tried to fight the urge to fall asleep. The quiet mumbles of Darach and the receptionist began to eventually lulled her into a calm snooze.   
Her eyes shut only once, but the gloves were purposefully powerful to draw out any excess to avoid a spike in power. Soon, she was napping peacefully in one of the lobby's silk-covered chairs, having her parka, which she didn't bother to close manually, drape open, and the certain Solosis currently hiding within it took it as an option of escape. 

"Yes, yes. We'll just take the payment and you'll be all set up Mister Darach," The receptionist chirped.   
Darach reached for his wallet again when he felt something brush against his back. Gallade? It felt oddly spherical as well, maybe Lady Caitlin had gotten bored and came to him, hopefully with Gallade- 

"Sol! Solosii!" 

Darach felt his body grow cold. What in the name of Arceus, of the whole creation trio, was Caitlins' Solosis doing out of the car and worse, unattended!? 

"Ahem!" The receptionist cleared her throat, "Excuse me, Sir!" The call of the receptionist brought him back down to reality, "Is this your pokemon?" 

He looked behind him and lo-and-behold, Caitlin was draped in a nearby chair, sleeping peacefully, arms folded neatly in her lap, parka left wide open.  
He felt heat draw to his cheeks and as if he operated on clockwork, he reached inside his trenchcoat and checked his pocket watch. Thirty minutes had already passed, and in that amount of time, Gallade had mysteriously lost sight of Caitlin, who managed to slip inside the lodge, with the Solosis, who he had a good chance that the pokemons' "Out of Region" registration papers were stowed away in the luggage back inside the limosinette, and had fallen asleep due to exhaustion. 

"I- Erm- Ah-" He struggled to find words for an excuse as the troublesome Solosis in question nuzzled up to his cheek, chirping at the warmth. 

"I'm sorry, Mister Darach. Even if that pokemon does belong to you, it is an out-of-region pokemon not registered in the Regional Pokedex. You're going to have to show me it's registered papers so I can check if it's up to it's legal shots and has been checked by a specialist." 

Darach grimaced and sucked in a sharp breath of air through his teeth, "Well… Um…" He looked towards Caitlin, who was still napping in the chair, "It- It belongs-" His hands trembled ever so slightly as checked his pocket watch again. 

"I have its papers. It does belong to me," The Solosis chirped again, and settled on the desktop, like a little plate of very pleased jello, "Except I left them back in my li- uhm, car, and my other passenger has fallen asleep, and I do not wish to leave her unattended," He stepped aside so the receptionist could see Caitlin passed out in the chair behind him. 

"Oh, I understand. As a Frontier Brain you've really got your hands full, don't you?" She smiled, "I can watch over Miss Caitlin." 

Darach flipped his pocket watch shut and slid it back into his trenchcoat, the blush still painting his cheeks as he bowed in a slight apology.

"Thank you." 

~~~ 

The benefits of having a room on the second floor was that... the view was nice. When you're the one carrying seven to ten bags of luggage and supplies to and from the car to the room, there was no benefits of a second floor room. 

Darach set the final bag of luggage on the carpeted floor of the room with a grunt, and as Gallade followed him in carrying the sleeping Caitlin, who in turn had her Solosis resting in her lap, who was curled up quite victoriously for something that had caused the whole mess in the first place. 

"Gallade," Darach panted, "Set the Lady down on one of the beds," 

The Gallade nodded and set Caitlin along with Solosis down on the bed to the left, the one with the wall to the left that had the bathroom on the other side. Darach sank down to his knees just to catch his breath, counting blessings that he was even able to get a room with 2 beds to begin with. As if on cue, he reached into his coat and pulled out his pocket watch, checking the time. About five in the afternoon now, this ordeal was taking far longer than he anticipated.

Caitlin's eyes softly fluttered open, and the Solosis still resting on her chirped. She looked to the left and saw the nightstand with the two lamps and plugs for devices like phones, and the second bed, identical to the one she was laying on.   
She sat up, and noticed Darach standing upright, dusting off his suit pants and Gallade behind him, arranging her suitcases and duffel bags. 

She yawned purposefully, hoping to get his attention, 

"My Lady! You're awake," Darach strode over to the foot of her bed and bowed, "Did you sleep well?" 

Caitlin smiled a faint smile and patted Solosis, who was ever so slightly inching over to the edge of the bed,   
"I was getting quite bored in the car. I must have fallen asleep once I came to see you…" 

Darach shut his eyes and nodded, "That wasn't a problem. I was able to handle the situation," He could see her smile from the bed, "Would you like to do some training, or do you still need more rest?" 

Caitlin yawned again and grabbed the Solosis as it tried to escape from the bed, and it melded around her fingers like a small stress ball, chirping angrily. 

"I'm still… a little drowsy," She smiled, "Though I am a little famished…" 

Darach nodded and looked at Gallade, who sheepishly looked away. 

"Of course. I'm sure this place has some sort of food service, and while I'm gone, Gallade will watch over you this time. Correct, Gallade?" He looked at Gallade, who turned to look at him, but wouldn't quite look him in the eyes. 

"Is there anything particular that you would want?" 

She pursed her lips, setting the Solosis on her abdomen, and smiled, "Unovan cuisine, please." 

The Valet nodded and bowed, "I'll do my best, My Lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! You'll see the special surprises this brings in ACGTRH Chapter 26, let's go region hoppers!


	3. A troubling solosi-tuation!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darach and Caitlin try to sleep in, but in Solaceon Town on that fateful morning, theres no such thing as sleeping in unbothered!

It was supposed to be a good morning. Keywords ‘supposed to’. 

The soft powder snow that covered the ground sparkled in the early morning daylights reflection. It stopped flurrying last night, so the sun showed its round face from out behind the cracks in the large cloud cover that coated the morning Solaceon skies. In the comfort of the Lodge’s second bed, Darach pried open his tired eyes, just as a spare beam of sun that slid past the opening in the drapes hit him square in the face. He squinted, reaching over to the nightstand, groping the hardwood surface for his glasses, along with his pocket watch. In Solaceon, being closer to the arctic circle meant that the sun rose earlier than it did in the other regions. In places like Unova, it would still be dark outside. 

Caitlin was fast asleep in the bed parallel to his, facial features hidden underneath a light pink sleep mask, chest still rising and falling softly under the thin blanket of the lodge beds. The troublesome solosis, after a night spent hopping from bed to bed, getting comfortable only to shift positions and float over to the other side of the room, had finally settled on her bed and nestled itself right next to her side, still in a peaceful slumber as well. 

Darach flipped open his watch and sat up against the small wooden headboard, rubbing his eyes with the same hand he held his glasses in. One of the two phones buzzed on the bedside table but he was much too fatigued to reach over for it. He set his glasses on the bridge of his nose and pushed them up to fit on his face, squinting as he read the time outlined on the ticking watch. The watch read just a little over 7:20am, and the sun was already beginning its steep climb up the horizon. He sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses, and closed his watch, setting it back in a pocket that wasn't there. Maybe another hour of sleep should do him some good, he began to slowly slide back down the headboard, maybe just half an hour? Twenty more minutes…  
Darachs’ head leaned forward ever so slightly as he shut his eyes, chin resting on his chest and arms folded, still gripping the pocket watch.

“We have you surrounded! Come on out with your hands UP!”  
Darach jumped up so fast his head hit the back of the bed’s headboard with a large thunk. Caitlin jumped, instantly sitting up to identify the source of the sound, and the solosis rolled from its position by her side and chittered angrily. 

“Ow.. ow ow…” Darach hissed, rubbing the spot where he smacked his head, “What in the name of…” He threw the covers off of him and got over to the window, but all he could see was a snow-laden field where clusters of miltank grazed on the spots where the sun had melted the snow in the near distance. 

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Do not try anything funny, or we won’t hesitate!”

Darach jumped again, and Caitlin grabbed the solosis from the floor and held onto it with a near white-knuckle grip. He tried to open the window to see if he could locate the source of the sound, but all he saw were more pinkish blobs of miltank near the edge of the Lodges fences. Those were clearly not whatever made those sounds. 

“Caitlin? Are you alright?” Remembering his job, he turned back to her, who was sitting in the bed, face buried into the solosis’ thick jelly skin.  
All he could make out was a mumble, her words muffled by the solosis she held close to her. It didn’t seem to mind this, as it’s skin glowed with a faint bright resonance. 

“Stay here,” He murmured to Caitlin and walked over to his bag, retrieving the pokeball that contained Gallade, and let it free. 

The Gallade cried its call and bowed as it appeared, but looked just as shocked when the room shook and the same voice from earlier called out more near-unintelligible banter. 

“I’m going to go find out the source of all this," The Gallade nodded, "Stay here and guard the room while I’m away. If anything gets out of hand... “ He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and handed it to Gallade, “Play the white noise playlist, that should be enough until I get back.”

Dressed in dark purple pajamas, decorated in horizontal gray stripes and a pair of old battered slippers, Darach began his descent down the lodge hallway as the police sirens blared outside. He WAS on his way to investigate, but was almost ran over by a colorful group of patrons running down the hallway. He sidestepped out of the way and flattened himself against the wall, exhaling a shaky breath. Chattering, whispers and yelling began to increase tenfold as the group headed for the nearest back room. 

The Frontier Brain had a feeling, a slight, worrisome feeling, that this would only be the beginning.


End file.
